Brad Harrison, Daphane Nelson, Jenny Green, Dieter Dudy and Denis Walsh have joined forces as they each run for a city council seat this November.

(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - The loosely knit alliance Vision Kamloops says they will be helping each other by sharing their strengths, but will also be focused on their own campaigns as we head into the November election.

The members of the group all identify as being against the proposed Ajax Mine but do not list that as one of their core values and principles. Instead they focus on the broader issues of economic growth and diversity, creating a business friendly environment, participatory government, fiscal responsibility and community health.

Dieter Dudy, one of the five members of the alliance, says they are not a ‘one-trick pony’ as they were made out to be earlier this week.

“I’d like people to understand we aren’t on just one issue, we actually have a stable full of tricks,” he says.

Daphane Nelson notes that was part of the reason they waited until Thursday to release their platform, they wanted to ensure they were all in agreement and not focused on just one item.

“You can’t run a city on one issue,” Denis Walsh says. “Especially Ajax, when there’s a big debate whether we can even have a say on it.”

Walsh says the performing arts centre and lack of public engagement on the project is a key concern for the group, and is also one of the only specific items the group spoke about during a press conference Thursday morning.

Walsh also pointed to changes that should be looked at the government level to help engage residents. The need to look at possibly changing meeting times, term limits and campaign financing as well as the possibility of a hybrid ward system that would see two council representatives designated for the North Shore and another two for the South Shore are all things the group thinks could change.

Dudy, Nelson and Walsh, along with Jenny Green and Brad Harrison, hope people will see them as individuals collaborating within a team. They plan on using their expertise to help each other with their individual campaigns and they will be using cooperative signs. The group will also be hosting their own mixers so people can meet with them outside of the larger events.

“This is an example of working together, of different skill sets getting together,” Walsh says. “By coming together and using our different skill levels and supporting each other we can get our message out to the public better.”

In total there are 28 candidates running a spot on council, along with four candidates for mayor and 15 for school trustee. On Nov. 15 voters will elect one mayor, eight councillors and five school trustees.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014